Matrix: Revolutions (SPOILERS)

Well, I caught Revolutions with Brent this morning and I have to say it had one of the WEAKEST endings I have ever seen in a movie series. Don't get me wrong, the invasion/defense of Zion and Niobe's flight through the mechanical tunnel ROCKED!!! The visuals were, IMHO, stunning. And I suppose that other parts of the story weren't so bad, either. But hands down, I thought the ending stunk!

I got sick of hearing the Oracle ask everyone "Do you recognize me"? "Do you know why I look different"? We all know the original Oracle actress died, it only needed explaining once.

Well, one reason they left it open as they did as because of the MMORPG currently in the works. It's set inside the Matrix after the trilogy, and I'm sure they want to be able to develop their own storyline.

As far as the movie goes, I actually liked the ending. It was unexpected in some ways, expected in others, and proved that Neo really was the One and really was the only hope for Zion.

I gotta agree with Billy on the ending. When I first watched it I was a little let down like you Jake but after watching 3 more times today I have caught a few subtle things that have allowed me to enjoy it. Just a few loose ends or questions that were either tied up or sent me back to watch the film and catch other little subtle hints. Check it out again Jake and see if you feel the same.

Oh I hope the focus issue was better after you ran into me. I went upstairs and made some tweaks and it looked a whole lot better to me.

It was better than Reloaded, but that isn't saying much. The action was great, but it seemed way too over-the-top. I couldn't believe for one minute those APUs could do anything to stop or even slow the Sentinel onslaught. It just seemed ridiculous.

Was bringing the Merovingian back really necessary? I think that character was better just left in one movie. It seemed to me to be an afterthought of where Neo was and how to get him back. But, maybe I just don't get it. Where did he go anyway? I guess we were just supposed to assume that everyone in the Matrix has been assimilated into the Smith Collective.

I did like the ending, as least the finality of Neo himself. Granted, I haven't seen Reloaded in about 6 months, but I seem to remember the Architect telling Neo that this struggle is a recurring one. Every so many generations or years Zion gets wiped out and then new people are released from the Matrix to start it all over. Or something along those lines.

With that, I was left to assume that the humans won for what may well have been the first time. The exchange between the Oracle and the Architect led me to believe that he would still release a new set of people to start Zion again. But are they just supposed to join the current ones and start the fight all over? I guess just hand down the stories and legends of "the savior" and let it fall into obscurity enough that only one man really believes in it for the next Neo?

What's up with that girl, Sati? She obviously has some special purpose... She made that sunrise/set for Neo. Wait... she was a program without a purpose, right? But she escaped into the Matrix? Damn, Tron was so much better... And for that matter, what happened to all the other students of the Oracle? It just makes me mad thinking about it.

I have to say that Agent Smith and Bane really stole the show for me. Weaving definately loved his part and really played the cocky invincible thing perfectly. Smith as Bane was just as much of a treat.

Overall, I'm glad it's all over and I won't be shedding any tears any time soon over it. Maybe I'll try to read some other people's takes on it all and see what I'm missing.

OK - I have an opinion - but we all know opinions are like ... (crude, very crude ...)

I liked it! I think the trilogy when viewed as a whole, in one sitting, is (will be) pretty darned good. Which is a good reason to bring back, or continue with the Merovingian character - just to see the club was good enough reason.

I liked the ending - it was fitting! I'm sick of the movies where the good guys lives through horrible odds and gets the girl! Well - this was refreshing! The story was designed around choices and sacrifice and it worked for me.

Who is to say he really bought it? Maybe the machines will assimilate him into their collective and he can return as the new bad guy and they can swoop in and save him in the last 3 minutes and .... (wait, wrong series).

I thought the lovey dovey scenes were a little toooooooooooooo long! I got the picture! Bring on the action! It did take a little too long to get the story wound up but it finally let loose enough for me to get excited about it.

The attack on Zion and Flight through the maintenance tunnel rocked. Yeah, those poor APU's didn't really stand a chance with that onslaught - and guess what, they did get wiped out pretty darned quick but did manage to take down a few in the process. That onslaught was pretty awesome - and what about machine city? I guess the surface is pretty much off limits, huh?

Smith & Bane - COOL! .. 'nuff said.

Now for the very very ending .... I thought they should have stopped at the shot of Zion - maybe started their big ole' party or something. I didn't need to see the architech, oracle, and Sati again - they could move on without dragging them back in right now. The take on the programs leaving - pretty cool thought though.

Overall, the story in it's entirity (sp?) - including Animatrix - good enough for me to sit through it all again, and again.

Ya know, Russ...I have to agree with you. I'm still not fond of the ending scene with Oracle and Sati(sp?), but the rest of the movie did indeed rock. I will probably see it again and might feel differently about it. I think once we have the whole set on DVD and can watch them together that I might have a different opinion.

Now [link=http://www.corporatemofo.com/stories/031109matrix.htm]this[/link] is what I'm talking about.

I told you I'd read other people's takes on the movie and this guy sheds a different light on it than I had experienced.

I've always thought the Wachowski (sp?) brothers had great imagination and vision, but just couldn't get it across to the audience as well as they would have liked. Whether that was writing, studio pressure, acting or a combination of these things, I don't know. But this view on the story only makes their vision better in my opinion, and unfortunately that just makes the failure of the movies that much more evident. Of course, you can find meaning anywhere if you squint your eyes enough too.

I can think of another writer/director that has remarkable visions, but just can't seem to bring that across as well as he'd like to...

So my girlfriend and I went to see this tonight... she liked it.. Overall I guess I did too. I was entertained by the flashy effects and while I thought it way way cliche the story was okay. I kept waiting for Neo to say something about the sleeper awakening Was just a bit over the top. Will give credit to the actor playing Bane...he had Smith dead on heh.

Bah...
Internet piracy had nothing to do with the low numbers and everything to do with the film itself.

People like me will love it, but the avereage movie goers, like say my parents, are not going to like it and when they see it they will tell thier friends as such.

Some of the "average" people that saw it at work really didn't like it. they thought it was either, to complex (yes sadly most american really do hate to have to think to understand a movie) or so over the top.

I loved it for those reasons, but then again me and the rest of you are not the average movie goers either.

I liked the First Matrix and think they should just have left it at that. However I loved all the fighting scenes in the second one. The second one wasn't bad, I just think instead of spliting it into two movies, and making it so long was necessary to me! They could have done it the same as the first one, and I think I would have liked it more.

I agree. I love the ever-shrinking release window from theater to DVD. I think piracy is a huge factor in this. You've seen the music industry recently start dropping prices on many first-run albums to less than $10 or just above. Whatever helps the consumer get a fair price in a decent amount of time I'm cool with. Besides, I can get them either way if I'm forced to

It's not just the DVD release window that shrinking. Films are staying at the first run houses for even shorter runs than normal. The only way for a film to stick around longer than a month and a half is for it to have a wider audience appeal than most sci-fi films do. Pirates of the Caribbean and Nemo did really well because of the wide appeal. Matrix will die off in the 35mm venues in less than 2 months and will probably hold strong in IMAX like Reloaded did for about 4 months or so. Part of why Revolutions will drop is because of word of mouth from average joes and partly because of all the films preparing to open for the holidays. How the film does this weekend will be the true test to see how long the film can hold on and how soon we might see a boxed DVD set.....only time will tell.

But what percentage of the Matrix's (Matricies?) fan-base is computer and 'net savvy? So savvy that they only need to see it on the screen once to get the 'umph' from it and go home to find their download finished?

You're right about the broad appeal of the other movies, but think about the difference in the demographics. Nemo sold some 2 million VHS copies on it's first day last week. How many VHS copies to you think the matrix will sell? That's just another way to show the difference in the technological adeptitude of the audience.

The R rating doesn't help the repeat viewings for the matrix either as much as Nemo's G does.

The Matrix will get killed this coming weekend between the Oscar talk of Master & Commander and the kid-friendly Looney Tunes (Azkahban trailer too!). Oh, and another post-mortem Tupac media frenzy. Plus all the girlfriends and wives that put up with Matrix last week will want to see Elf or Love Actually for retribution.